►►►Tales from IronFreak and his shop shenanigans◄◄◄

[JCarp90]

Does this go fast yet?

[IronFreak]

nope.......going over after work to do more fabbing on the cage. found my stinger so I can stick weld the door bars.

[Spectre]

This is such an awesome build!

So, when I left off we were building a turbo Ls motor for the car.........All of that it gone, every bit of it. Talking with some good friends I realized that I was potentially ruining the car and it's balance by doing something like that (if I haven;t already ruined it with the cage and stuff).

Care to elaborate? I'm curious how bad an LS would throw off the balance in our cars.

[IronFreak]

This is such an awesome build!



Care to elaborate? I'm curious how bad an LS would throw off the balance in our cars.

I wasn't going to be using the aluminum block "ls1" motor. it was a 5.3L LS iron block. you know I don't know how bad it would have been, weight distribution was going to be different. Motor to motor the weight if the iron block with the turbo would have been more, but would have been located further back, but also, the transmission was SIGNIFICANTLY heavier. The g260 doesn't break 100lbs. I bet the LS tranny was north of 150.

And, I really didn't need the power I was going to be able to produce for what I want to do with the car. would it have been fun, maybe but manageable would have been a different story. I think this new setup will make the build much more well rounded and still offer plenty of room for growth.

[kingston]

And, I really didn't need the power I was going to be able to produce for what I want to do with the car. would it have been fun, maybe but manageable would have been a different story. I think this new setup will make the build much more well rounded and still offer plenty of room for growth.

Smart man! And it is AWESOME to see this build moving rapidly towards completion. Can't wait to hit the track with you this summer, Ross!

[thatphysicsguy]

I wasn't going to be using the aluminum block "ls1" motor. it was a 5.3L LS iron block. you know I don't know how bad it would have been, weight distribution was going to be different. Motor to motor the weight if the iron block with the turbo would have been more, but would have been located further back, but also, the transmission was SIGNIFICANTLY heavier. The g260 doesn't break 100lbs. I bet the LS tranny was north of 150.

And, I really didn't need the power I was going to be able to produce for what I want to do with the car. would it have been fun, maybe but manageable would have been a different story. I think this new setup will make the build much more well rounded and still offer plenty of room for growth.

What makes the e30 so great is it's balance. I'm glad you decided to try and keep it with your build direction!

[unloadedak]

No more LS? Are you taking estrogen again Ross?

[IronFreak]

[IronFreak]

Well I got a little more done this weekend.......I say little because it doesn't look like much but its tedious work. I think about all I have to do is weld the gussets up and install foot protection. I really wanted to do some roof supports off the subframe, but I'll have to really cut the car up to weld it properly.....Not that I'm skimping out on safety, just trying to decide if I'll ever race this in anything that would need it.

First template, decided it was a little to big........


Second one that I used.


Nothing fancy to make them, got them all cut and notched, took a piece of pipe and tacked it, then strong armed it around the pipe.




Got the doors, main hoop and rear X-brace all gusseted.




Due to space restriction with welding I added gussets here just did it with pipe.



I need to modify this fenderwell area to clear tires then I'll be putting in some foot protection.


This is the roof protection I talked about (red tape). What do you guys think, bite my lip and do a little more work?? I would run from that point down to the main hoop, then off the back down to the subframe bolt location.


Other things I had to do was go by a little air saw and cut into the body to finish welding some areas. I have learned a LOT of what not to do when building a cage. thankfully nothing to costly....



next thing I'll be working on once cage is done will be cleaning up the rear seat area. Not and e30 but you get the general idea, I'll do it all out of ltw aluminum sheet.



And thats really about it for this weekend. Things should continue to come together quick. Stay tuned!

[JCarp90]

This shit's getting real.

[eduTechnic]

Bravo the cage is coming along nicely and so are we. Hnnngh

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

[IronFreak]

Well I got the cage all welded up this weekend.........forgot to take pictures of that but not to much to see. Besides the foot protection I think I'm done. I also did some work for my buddy, he got a new turbo so I welded the wastegate shut for him.



He owns a PDR company so I'll have a dent free e30 soon!

After I finished the cage I started on the sunroof. picked me up a sheet of 18ga cold rolled steel and did some measuring.



I wrinkled the top a bit pulling the cassette for the sunroof, so I carried the new piece rearward another 4-5" to replace that. then I cut!



You can buy these but they are expensive. I had made a load of them for a previous project I was working out. they are SO slick for lining up body panels.



you just place it between the two piece and slide a small dowel in the hole underneath and tighten up the nut!



Place accordingly to get it all even






I'm going to try and get there tonight or tomorrow to get it welded up. really coming together though. ordering the clutch and intercooler this week. hoping that the motor will be finished up this weekend so we can start mocking things up!

[kingston]

Ross, getting there, man! Let's pick a date to run a DE at MAM. That can be your motivation to get the Beast done!! Great work, man. Cya in 12 days!

[IronFreak]

thanks Kingston, and I'll have to look at their schedule, I could also talk to a local guy I know that I believe instructs at most of those. It would be a load of fun to learn how to drive the car properly on a track.

[MasukBMW]

Why the aluminum at the back seats? Is this strictly to clean up the back? Seems like you are doing alot to reduce weight were as in this case you are adding some (I understand its light all things considered with the cage) Looks very cool though and it will certainly clean it up